Major Scales and Emotions

scale name
pitches in C
mood
major
C
D
E
F
G
A
B
Happy; can be majestic or sentimental when slow
mixolydian
C
D
E
F
G
A
Bb
Bluesy, rock; can also be exotic/modal
lydian
C
D
E
F#
G
A
B
Ethereal, dreamy, futuristic
ahava raba
C
Db
E
F
G
Ab
Bb
exotic, Middle Eastern, Jewish (ie Hava Nagila)

Minor Scales and Emotions

scale name

pitches in C

mood
natural minor
C
D
Eb
F
G
Ab
Bb
Sentimental, tragic
harmonic minor
C
D
Eb
F
G
Ab
B
Tragic, exotic, Middle Eastern
melodic minor
C
D
Eb
F
G
A
B
Mysterious, jazzy, very dark
dorian
C
D
Eb
F
G
A
Bb
Hip, sophisticated, jazzy
phrygian
C
Db
Eb
F
G
Ab
Bb
Spanish/Flamenco

Synthetic Scales and Emotions

To make basic chords from the major and minor scales, start with the first note, then skip to the third, then the fifth. Using C Dorian, that’s C, Eb, G. This is called a triad, and it’s the simplest type of chord.

To extend the chords, add in the seventh, the second/ninth, the fourth/eleventh, and the sixth/thirteenth. Using C Dorian, that’s Bb, D, F, A. The more notes you add, the more complex and dense the chord becomes.

You can also skip or leave out notes: C, Eb, Bb, F for example. Also, you can double notes (especially the first/root.)

It doesn’t matter what order the notes are in. C Eb Bb is functionally the same chord as C Bb Eb (though they will have slightly different feeling.)

Don’t put fourths/elevenths into major chords unless you leave the third out, it sounds very dissonant.

Not surprisingly, chords have the same feel as the scale they came from, so a chord made from Phrygian sounds very Spanish.

Any combination of notes can be a chord, though if they don’t come from a particular scale, they won’t make much sense. But that can be good sometimes. For example, you can use clusters (C, Db) and tritones (C, F#) to create tension and anxiety.

The blues scale is an oddball. You can’t make chords from it, but it works equally well over major and minor chords.

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